Little A was a bus driver for his Christmas school show. This year, instead of a Nativity play, they acted out the song "Frosty the Snowman," and did a little dance number in the middle.

Unlike the end-of-term show in October, when he cried madly after the dance number due to the applause, this time he was more aware that there would be clapping, so he steeled himself for the inevitable. I'd been working with him on clapping Mummy's hands instead of freaking out, and that had been working, as lately he'd been less prone to flying off the handle when he heard random clapping while we were out and about.

Apart from singing the Christmas carol daily in the days leading up to the show, I found a board book with illustrations to the song lyrics, and the Au Pair found a video on youTube for Little A to watch repeatedly.

Come showtime, he stood on the stage for the entire length of the "play," and swayed in place during the dance, even if he didn't do all the steps. We were all very proud.

Since he'd been sick with a fever and bad cough at the end of November, he's been amazingly behaved. All of his therapists have remarked on the change, and I noticed it particularly in the ten days the Au Pair was away. We're all crossing our fingers that this positive development will also be a permanent one.

What still is to come though, is speech. One school has already told us they have never accepted a non-verbal child, and another has turned him down partly on this basis. There are two more schools I will apply him to come January, but my main wish for the coming year is that he finds a place at a very supportive school. Let's hope those prayers get answered this year.